1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an opto-electronic semiconductor component having light transmitting or light receiving properties and including a planar light emitting or light detecting active zone lying parallel to the surface of a semiconductor crystal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Opto-electronic semiconductor components are well known and are used in increasing numbers as light waveguide (LWG) components for message transmission.
For example, a conventional semiconductor photodiode is composed of a semiconductor lamina and the light-absorbing layer lies parallel to the surface of the lamina. The efficiency of the diode is at a maximum when light is incident perpendicular relative to the absorbent layer, in other words, relative to the active zone of the photodiode.
To be able to detect a light beam derived from a semiconductor laser or the light exiting from a light waveguide or from an optical fiber with such diodes, the respective components must be constructed on planes tilted relative to one another so that, for example, a three-dimensional structure is required. Due to the necessarily three-dimensional arrangement of the individual elements relative to one another, the mounting planes and the assembly process itself, for example, bonding on a slanted plane, are extremely expensive, and/or extremely time consuming and susceptible to errors.
Of course, light-emitting, opto-electronic components or, light-waveguide semiconductor components such as, for example, surface emitters also have these disadvantages. Such an arrangement is especially problemmatical when it is necessary to hybridize such components with various electrical and electro-optical components such as laser diodes, and/or with other optical elements such as spherical lenses or fibers.